<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>a light in the darkness, a star in the night by artemis_west</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25350502">a light in the darkness, a star in the night</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemis_west/pseuds/artemis_west'>artemis_west</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DC Animated Movie Universe, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020), Teen Titans - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Hopeful Ending, Short One Shot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:14:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,900</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25350502</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemis_west/pseuds/artemis_west</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The last survivors of the Apokolips War have returned to Earth, or at least what remains of it. Dick and Kori have been given time to mourn their losses together, but both of them are changed by the irreparable damage that has been done to them. </p><p>(Spoilers for Justice League Dark: Apokolips War if you haven't watched it yet). A short scene taking place after the heroes have returned to Earth but before they gather at Titans Tower, and right before Flash runs back to change the timeline again.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Nightwing/Starfire</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a light in the darkness, a star in the night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hey guys! this is my first DickKory fic on here, but I think I want to write more because this is just a short one I wrote after I watched the last movie. I could definitely write more and I'm not sure if I love this but I needed to get my emotions out. </p><p>for those who've never read my fics before but are only just reading this because you're part of the fandom, hi and I hope you like it! for those who follow me and have read my fics from other fandoms, thanks for reading this and I hope I enticed you into another fandom! dick and kori are one of my biggest ships and I've been rewatching all of the DC animated movies lately so I'm way back into my feelings for them. JLD:AW destroyed me.</p><p>(I wasn't really sure what to tag this since this is my first fic in this fandom so I hope it reaches some people!)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The woman in the mirror was not the woman she used to be. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Koriand’r raised her hand to her face, but it was not her hand. It was not her face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her eye filled with tears. She only had one eye now. One half of her face was cold metal, her mouth, her jaw, her eye altered. Half - no, most - of her body was gone, replaced with mechanical parts. Both of her hands now had metal claws. Her arms were not her own. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She covered her mechanical eye, so that she could only see the human half of her face. A tear ran down her cheek, and she let out a quiet sob. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When her mind had been restored to her, free from Darkseid’s control, it had been like waking from a long sleep. A sleep in which she was being controlled, violated. Her actions were not her own. It had been so much of a shock that she couldn’t speak for hours, afraid that when she did, her voice would not sound the same. She’d looked down and seen what had been done to her body, and she’d been terrified. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But besides herself, her first thought was for Dick. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The last thing she truly remembered was fighting Darkseid’s paradooms, defending Titans Tower with her team. She had watched Kid Flash fall. She had watched Beast Boy fall. She had watched all of them die, violently, and her screams of fury and agony had nearly ripped her apart. But she couldn’t stop fighting. Her pain, her grief and her anger, made her powers stronger. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the end, it had not been enough. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nightwing had been by her side. They’d tried to protect each other’s backs, as they’d always done, partners to the end. She didn’t remember him falling, so she must have fallen first. The last thing she saw was Dick’s face; she’d tried to reach for him, but a paradoom had held him back. He’d screamed her name. Another demon must have taken her. She remembered unspeakable pain, and then nothing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her memories were a blank wall after that. And now she was this. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When she’d learned that Dick had died, and that Damian had put him in the Lazarus Pit, she’d felt her heart cleave in two. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d known that he wouldn’t be the same. Wouldn’t be the man she knew and loved. But part of her didn’t care. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wasn’t the same, either. Neither of them ever would be again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they’d been reunited, Dick’s eyes were unfocused. Kori didn’t think he recognized her. He was a shell of himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Constantine had done what he could to heal Dick’s mind. Raven had helped. Kori had wanted to be with him, to hold his hand, but she’d stood outside the room while they worked on him, and she’d endured his screams with her eyes closed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he’d emerged, he hadn’t seemed to notice she was there, at first. She’d reached out to him, whispering his name. The sound of it called him back, but he was a faint, tenuous thing, his grip on reality a very thin thread. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kori?” he’d said, seeing her automaton features, her mutilated body, forever changed. His hand reached up slowly, his fingers pressing gently against her metal face. Then tears had filled his eyes. He’d collapsed into her arms, and she held him up. “God, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d just held him, as tightly as she could without hurting him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Most of the city had been destroyed by the parademons, but somehow, the apartment they shared had been spared. They’d been given the chance to rest there for a while, but Koriand’r knew it would be short-lived. She knew this world was no longer sustainable. It could not last. They could never regain a sense of normalcy in this new reality, broken and torn as it was by Darkseid’s power. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But each of them, those that had returned from Apokolips after the carnage, had been given time to themselves, at least for a few moments. Enough to grieve. In just an hour, they - the last survivors, the remainders of Earth’s heroes - would meet on the shore of the small island where Titans Tower once stood to discuss the future. At least, what little of it they could pull together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Koriand’r looked at herself in the mirror again and took a deep breath. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She turned and moved slowly through the rooms she’d once made a home out of, searching for her partner. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick stood alone by the wall of windows that faced out over the once glimmering Gotham City. They’d taken the straitjacket off of him when his mind had returned to him. Or at least, some of his mind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kori had hated the sight of the restricting thing on him - it broke her heart. She could barely stand it. But Damian told her it had been necessary, after he took Dick out of the Lazarus Pit. His body had been too far gone to be restored to its original state. The Pit hadn’t brought him back completely; it had only fashioned a gross imitation of what he’d once been out of the broken parts of him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was . . . better, now, though not whole. Constantine and Raven had warned her that he might never be whole again. Kori accepted that. She would be there for him no matter what. She herself was not whole, either. All she could do was offer what was left of herself to him in comfort.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If he would still have her, like this. As she was now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He saw her reflection in the window, approaching slowly behind him. She didn’t touch him, nor did she speak. Though her voice was one of the only things that had remained the same about her after her transformation. She might have looked entirely different, but she still sounded the same. That was a small comfort. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I . . .” Dick started to speak, his voice raspy and rough. She waited patiently, wanting so badly to touch him. But she kept her distance. She didn’t want to startle him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wasn’t afraid. She could never be afraid of Dick Grayson. She was just . . . cautious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turned to face her. His face was drawn, haggard and tired. She could see the emptiness in his eyes. They no longer lit up like they used to do when he looked at her. He did not smile. Her heart lurched, and she felt tears sting her eye again, but she did not let them fall. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He reached out, slowly. His fingers curled softly around her metal hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have nothing to apologize for,” Kori said, fearing her voice would break when she spoke. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Neither . . . do you,” he said, knowing what her next words would be. He still knew her. Of course he did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This . . . thing . . . that happened to us, Dick, it was neither of our faults.” Kori wanted to squeeze his hand, but she was afraid her metal claws would pierce his skin. “So we should not blame ourselves.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded. But Kori knew what he was thinking: if only they had fought differently that day, if they had done something different . . . but no. Perhaps things would have turned out the same. Darkseid would still have conquered Earth. There was no telling which variables would have changed the outcome.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no one to blame for any of this, really. Tragedy happened to people; sometimes the world was cruel, and there was nothing that could be done about it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But there was hope, too. There was always a light in the darkness. Despite everything, Kori still believed that. The Titans had taught her about unconditional love, about always believing in a better future. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was not their final fate. If it was, they would make the best of it, side by side. But Koriand’r knew there was something else waiting for them. This could not be it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are we . . . gonna do, Kori?” Dick asked her, his eyes wet and shining with tears. “How . . . will we move on from this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The way we have always done it,” she said. “Together.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick began to cry. Kori, careful and slow, wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as he dipped his head against her shoulder. He shook with silent tears, and Kori’s heart cracked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shh,” she comforted him, pressing her hand to the back of his head. “It’s alright.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She let him cry, and soon she began to cry with him. They had suffered so much loss, both of them. It was all senseless, unfair loss. So much grief. Unbearable pain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But against all odds, they still had each other. That was a miracle. A blessing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you, Dick Grayson,” Kori whispered in his ear. “That will never change.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He held her tighter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They spent their hour holding each other. In the last minutes, Dick kissed her skin - what was left of it on her face. He pressed his lips softly to her cheek, wiped the tears from her remaining eye. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you too,” he said, very quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After that, there were no more words left to say. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Koriand’r received a message on her communicator, a soft beep that interrupted their private sorrow. She took a deep breath. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is time,” she said softly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick took her hand again. “Let’s go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were a somber group. Batman, Robin, Raven. Constantine and Superman. Flash. The heroes that had once been Wonder Woman, Mera of Atlantis, Martian Manhunter and Hawkman. For all they knew, they were Earth’s last survivors. Though Darkseid and the paradooms were eradicated, the planet was decimated; its population destroyed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Batman had given the grim news: thirty-one percent of the Earth’s molten core was gone, and the planet was permanently out of alignment. Superman believed that if they worked together, the world could be saved. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But it was difficult to be optimistic when they sat on the ravaged shores of their home and saw only death. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kori sat with Dick, holding him in her arms. He had lost himself again on the way to the Tower; his mind had gotten away from him, and he twitched every now and again in Kori’s lap where he lay. His eyes were closed. Kori stroked his hair. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Constantine stood behind Flash close by. He said something to Flash that Kori could not hear, a hand on his shoulder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was quiet. Flash stood up and turned his face towards the sun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then he bent to one knee, in runner’s position. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no conversation about it. This, it seemed, would be the solution. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kori did not know what would happen. None of them did. But she heard Constantine’s last words to Flash. He was right. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It would be a damn sight better than what they had now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kori?” Dick tried to sit up, but Kori hunched over him and looked into his eyes. She tried to smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Remember what I said,” she whispered to him. “Together. We will survive together. Through whatever comes next.” The Flash began to run, speeding fast across the water.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick nodded, and they pressed their foreheads against each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Together,” he repeated. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a boom, a flash of light on the horizon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The light swept over them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kori kissed him once more as they were engulfed by the golden horizon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>On the other side, a new future awaited them.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I plan to post another fic this month, for Harley Quinn/poison ivy which should be done very soon! like I said I definitely want to expand the fandoms I write for on here and I hope to post more for DC comics in the future.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>